RULING Zanu PF party legislators cannot bear to face their
disillusioned supporters because of an escalating economic crisis made worse by
a severe drought, Zanu PF officials told NewsDay at the weekend.
The officials, who declined to be named, said government’s
failure to deal with the economic crisis meant that the party was failing to
deliver on its 2018 electoral promise and now some Zanu PF legislators were
avoiding meeting their constituents because they had no answers to what is
happening.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis in a
decade, with shortages of power, fuel, foreign currency and staple food
becoming the order of the day.
The officials said some Zanu PF legislators were now
avoiding holding constituency meetings with their electorate because they could
not explain the current situation and government plans to address it.
Zanu PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda admitted the
problem, saying he had warned the party during last year’s conference that some
of the elected officials may be lacking strategy on how to deal with the
electorate.
“Some (elected officials) may not know what to go and tell
the people because they say things are difficult. I said some people may lack
strategies and may not know what is going on and find nothing to say,”
Matemadanda told NewsDay on Sunday.
“What could be lacking is information to the general
populace, whereby people do not understand where we are and where we are going,
but to those with economic knowledge, they know things have started to
improve,” the Defence deputy minister said.
Matemadanda, however, chose to exonerate the party from the
current economic mess, blaming it on “uncouth businesspeople”.
“Hardships are not just a thing that came, especially when
they speak of austerity measures. Austerity measures are a government plan
meant to resuscitate the economy, which was explained before it started by the
President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) that things may get tough before they get
better,” he said.
“The President said after austerity measures, there will be
development and progress. As we speak, the period for austerity measures is
gone.”
Matemadanda said the ruling party had played its part in
creating a conducive environment for prosperity and shifted the burden on
business failing to perform.
“What Zanu PF in government has to do is to create an environment
conducive for investment, but Zanu PF is not in business. If there is failure,
it is on the part of business, it is on the part of the productive sectors, not
Zanu PF. Zanu PF should be faulted for failing to create a conducive
environment for economic production. I don’t think that is true. People do not
want to be objective about things, but want to capitalise on every negative
thing,” he said.
“We all marched as Zanu PF and MDC to protest against the
economy which had been mismanaged. Yes, it was a Zanu PF government, but it was
the leadership and some elements who were destroying the economy that is why we
marched (in November 2017),” he said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Marvellous
Khumalo said: “What we have witnessed as an organisation is that due to the
hardships being experienced by the people in the communities which are not in
tandem with the promises that were given before the general elections, a number
of elected officials are shunning to give feedback to their constituencies for
fear of being taken to task or being assessed in terms of what they promised
before the elections and what is actually obtaining on the ground.
“The electorate was promised heaven on earth. A lot was
promised in terms of access to education, access to basic healthcare and a new
dispensation in short. People were told that they were going to cross from the
old order to a new establishment, but what is obtaining on the ground at the
moment is even worse. People are angry, they are realising that they were given
fake promises and no one is trusting the elected officials, hence they (elected
officials) are hesitating to go back to their constituencies to face the people
they lied to.”
In its central committee report last year, Zanu PF also
acknowledged that there was a huge information gap between the higher echelons
of the party and the lower party structures.
“The grassroot structures have been yearning for
explanations on various issues that they do not understand, such as the
austerity economic measures and incessant price hikes, which have badly eroded
their incomes, making various households fail to make ends meet.
Representatives such as councillors and MPs do not have a clue on how to
explain to their constituencies the prevailing economic situation,” the report
read.
During the run-up to the July 2018 polls, Zanu PF made
several high-sounding promises to turn around the economy and improve citizens’
welfare, but two years down the line, the situation has worsened, making it
difficult for MPs to interface with the electorate. Newsday
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